Needless to say, the undeniable beauty of our planet took centre stage once again. And as we’re obviously really excited about this whole thing, we’ve compiled the following 20 photos we absolutely love for your viewing pleasure.

We’ll just let the pictures do the talking now.

Oh, and winners will be announced at the end of July. Enjoy.

1.

African Cheetah on the Masai Mara National Reserve safari in southwestern Kenya during the great wildebeest migration.Photo and caption by Amy Harris

2.

The sun sets as the majestic fog of the Pacific coast glides under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. The long exposure of the fog reveals a silky texture as the low clouds rise and fall over San Francisco’s trademark hills. All the while, tourists and locals alike make their drive along the mountainside, to try and capture the moment for themselves.Photo and caption by Michael Perry

3.

While on storm chasing expeditions in the Tornado Alley in USA I have encountered many photogenic supercell storms. This photograph was taken while we were approaching the storm near Julesburg, Colorado on My 28th, 2013. The storm was tornado warned for more than one hour, but stayed an LP storm through all its cycles and never produced a tornado, just occasional brief funnels, large hail and some rain.Photo and caption by Marko Korošec

4.

Seeing the shafts of light in the canyon is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. It was a surreal feeling being surrounded by the towering cliffs. The only way I could capture this special moment of the weeping walls was after an incredibly torrential rain. I knew I had to get to a shallow portion of the river to unfold my tripod. I was drenched from head to toe by the falling water. Mist and rain covered the camera, but I fired a few shots. As I stood in awe of the scene, the sun broke through for a few seconds and cast God’s rays into the side lit waterfall.Photo and caption by Peter Lik

5.

I stood at the base of Niagara Falls in Ontario Canada with my camera, tripod and ND filter and 10 million gallons of water per minute. My camera was soaking when I was done and didn’t think I had achieved the effect I wanted, but later found out it was worth taking an involuntary shower compliments of mother nature to get this photo.Photo and caption by Barry Hodgert

6.

Air battle of Great White Egrets in the National Park of Kiskunság, Hungary. Rivalry of the kin is frequent, even if there is no breeding season and they have enough food.Photo and caption by Bence Mate

7.

Overlooking the beautiful vista of San Cristóbal in the Galapagos Islands, a male carpenter bee drinks nectar from one of the native Scalesia flowers. (It was also a windy day; I was afraid he was going to bump into my camera.)Photo and caption by Andrew Schnorr

8.

A big lizard.Photo and caption by khaleel haidar

9.

This is one shot which was captured in the morning in Kumtag Desert. Kumtag Desert is the 6th largest desert in China. It became National Park in 2002.Photo and caption by mei xu

10.

A large red deer standing in the morning mist calling the hinds, this stag is one of a number of wild deer that live in the middle of London’s Richmond Park.Photo and caption by Mark Bridger

11.

On my trip to the small island Heligoland in the north sea, i was able to take a few pictures of these fantastic northern gannets.Photo and caption by Robert Sommer

12.

Every May for the last 3 years I have driven down to Tornado Alley to capture some amazing storms. This supercell held so much promise to drop a tornado but one small shift in the atmosphere and all that it produced was an extreme lightning show. Near Broken Bow, Nebraska.Photo and caption by Vanessa Neufeld

13.

A wild water vole sitting in his favourite water pipe munching on some water weed.Photo and caption by Mark Bridger

14.

Seal Loungeroom, taken on Isabella, Galapagos.Photo and caption by Ryan Essex

15.

I travel all over the United States photographing wildlife. Ospreys are one of my favorite birds to photograph and I could not believe my luck when I had the opportunity to shoot this raptor diving for fish repeatedly on the Ocklawaha river in Florida. I love to try and capture the shake off. This is performed after every dive successful or not. The Osprey stops for a brief moment in mid air and violently shakes off the water that it’s feathers has soaked up from the previous dive. If caught with a fast shutter speed and all other conditions are right, it can result on a nice image like this.Photo and caption by Graham McGeorge

16.

This picture is taken in the Central Atlas Mountains, Morocco. This area is populated by the idigenous Berber inhabitants. The sign on the wall represents the Berber, Tamazigh-flag. Tamazigh is the local language. The name also stands for: free man, noble man.Photo and caption by Hielke Gerritse

17.

Summer stom. A super cell formed off the coast of New Zealand, intensified and swept across Christchurch and North Canterbury. 23 Feb 2014.Photo and caption by David Hardy

18.

These men were hunting for frogs in the rice terrace ponds of Yuanyang County at sunset.Photo and caption by Shawn Talbot

19.

Like a scene from a different time on earth, or a completely different planet altogether. Passed down through Jökulsárlón lagoon through an outlet of the Vatnajökull Glacier, Icebergs enter into the North Atlantic. Shaped and polished by the ocean, the tide leaves a magnificent gallery of huge iceberg sculptures on the volcanic black beaches of Iceland. Photographed here at sunset, just after a rain storm. For scale, this Iceberg is about the size of a Jeep.Photo and caption by Sam Morris

20.

Salar de Uyuni is miracle. I was so moved of this landscape. I walked away from the car and took this photo with complete silence.Photo and caption by Takashi Nakagawa

Comments

Ewen is deeply passionate about travel, and would love to have a life of roaming the world without a care. In reality, he’s got bills to pay and is a digital media professional whose interests are wide-ranging, stretching from fashion to football; puppies to politics. Ewen dabbles in photography, and can probably take half-decent pictures. He has an insatiable desire for bags and sneakers and dreams of one day going into outer space.